So often we give ourselves big lofty goals and set high standards to achieve success. Then when we fall short we usually say, “I’ll try again another day,” instead of thinking about how to reframe our goals to be more sustainable for the future. Maybe what you have been trying to do is just not sustainable in the long-run. Maybe you first need to get to know yourself little better to decide what is.
It takes trial and error. You do have to experiment a bit, but after learning your rhythms and how your body feels after each action you take, you start to come into acceptance with what works and what simply does not. Here’s an example from my own life: Everyday I get up and either have coffee or Yerba Mate tea. But I am pretty strict with myself about coffee because I have been “told” that too much caffeine is not a good thing. Well, my approach was to do 1 cup of coffee every other day… but that didn’t prove sustainable.
As I was taking a Hatha yoga class one morning, I heard the instructor say, “We are approaching the full moon and it’s good to have practices in place that ground you.” Immediately I felt reassured, because that particular morning I had foregone my celery juice and decided on coffee instead (for the second day in a row mind you) – which did prove to be way more grounding than tea – or celery juice for that matter. However, at first, I felt guilty, like I had “caved in.” But afterwards, I realized what a good idea it turned out to be because it gave me the boost I needed to clean my bathroom and do a load of laundry before my 9:00 am yoga class.
So what am I getting at? Sometimes we set goals with good intentions, but we have to learn how to be as good at adjusting them (guilt free) when needed. I now just allow my body to tell me what it needs without trying to put it on a rigid schedule. Our bodies are not our minds and we need to honor our feelings about things just as much as we do our thoughts.